Something To Think About
by funstt
Summary: Misty wonders why the Champion of the Indigo League is suddenly visiting her favourite Café every morning. Rageshipping/Kingdrashipping Lance/Misty


It was a Wednesday when Misty walked into her favourite Cerulean Café, "Cafelot" to get her regular morning cup of coffee. When she was younger she had never enjoyed the taste but had grown to have a fond craving for the stuff each morning. Some mornings she even found that she couldn't function too well without it. That said, the only thing that could make her sisters complaining better in the early mornings was either coffee or Vodka – and at least coffee was socially acceptable at that time of day.

Her sisters had gotten closer to Misty over the years, while they still all poked fun at each other, they seemed to have matured once they had travelled while performing their shows and when they returned they regularly treated Misty like an actual person and even expressed concern for her wellbeing on a few occasions – despite the fact that Lily and Violet would try to pretend they didn't actually care.

She ordered her regular coffee with the young boy behind the counter, a long black with a dash of milk, and stood to the side to wait for her order.

Glancing around the small café she noticed it was busier than usual, with almost all of the tables full up around her.

Luckily she had no intention of sitting in this morning as she needed to stock up on some more food for her Pokemon.

Misty took a curious look around the room and realised that Lance Grayson, _the_ Champion of the Indigo Region was sitting at the very back table, and looked to be reading the Kanto Times Newspaper, with a coffee and a plate of bacon in front of him. He didn't look up from his paper, she guessed he must have been really into whatever article he was reading.

She returned her attention to the Café manager, Rocky, as he called her name and winked at her while passing her coffee over the counter.

"Have a good day Misty," he said with a grin as he turned back around to make orders for the other customers.

She smiled and replied her thanks before taking a final glance to the back corner and walking out of the shop to get Pokemon food before beginning her daily routine.

Misty was just finishing a morning jog when she arrived at Cafelot Thursday morning. Panting, she took a minute to get her breathing back in order before opening the door and entering.

"Hey Rocky," she said while pushing a few strands of hair behind her ears, "Can I please get a water and my usual?"

"Hey Misty, you look hot, are you staying in today?" he asked and she raised an eyebrow in return before rolling her eyes at the man. He could be a little over the top sometimes.

"Nah I can't, I have a challenger at 9.30 so I need to get back to the gym. Not having much luck this week am I?"

She smiled briefly and placed her money on the counter, looking around the café as he organised her change.

Sitting at the very back table again was Lance and she tilted her head to the side curiously as she watched him reading the paper like yesterday.

After a minute of observing him from afar, he looked up from his paper and stared directly at her and if she didn't know any better, it looked as though he were rather amused, with the corners of his lips turning upwards ever so slightly.

Before she could say anything her name was called by Rocky, who once again smiled at her brightly and handed her coffee over the counter with her water.

She muttered thanks and took another look at Lance, who was still watching her, and reluctantly turned away, leaving the café.

Outside she briefly took a minute to mutter "that was odd," under her breath before sighing and walking back to the gym.

Friday morning was always Misty's favourite day of the week. Everyone was always in a great mood on Fridays, looking forward to the weekend. Unfortunately as a Gym leader she didn't really get time to rest very often due to the sheer amount of work that it took to run the gym, look after and train all of the Pokemon, as well as clean the gym itself. Being a gym leader could be pretty exhausting.

Friday's were great though because most challengers wouldn't come past until the afternoon – if any came at all which meant Misty could usually get out for a few hours and enjoy the day.

As she walked into Cafelot, she found Rocky wiping down a few tables near the front door. He smirked at her as she closed the door behind her and gestured for her to move closer to him.

He leaned in and whispered, "It appears your friend is back again," and Misty scrunched her face up in confusion.

"What? Who?" She questioned, before looking around briefly and realising that once again, Lance Grayson sat at his newly regular table at the back of the café.

Her eyes widened and she tried to hide herself from view of Lance behind Rocky.

"I don't even really know him that well, Rocky," She said, with utter confusion on her face and in her tone.

He rolled his eyes and flicked his wash towel over his shoulder, "I think he might wish that you did," he said it, giving her a pointed look as he walked off back towards the counter to organise her usual Friday order.

She looked over at Lance again to find her had placed his paper down on the table and was looking at her, an amused glint in his eyes with his arms crossed.

Misty, kicking herself for standing there like a mess for so long staring back at him awkwardly opened her mouth before closing it suddenly and walking to one of the tables on the left side of the room.

Before she reached the table she chanced a look at him once more to find he was still staring at her.

Her head titled to the side in confusion and he smirked before waving at her lightly with one hand.

Misty took a minute to momentarily glance behind her only to find that there was no one there before looking back at Lance.

She hesitantly grabbed the seat at the table she had chosen before he offered another hand gesture, signalling for her to come over to him.

Letting out a nervous breath she slowly walked over to his table.

"Here I am, waving at you and you weren't even going to come over and say hello," he said, feigning a hurt tone as that playful smirk remained on his lips.

Her mouth opened in disbelief, "Well, I was just…I mean how am I supposed to know you were even waving at me."

She mentally kicked herself for the response but the way he was staring unnerved her.

He kicked the chair closest to her out, "Wanna join me for breakfast?"

"You want me to join you for breakfast," she repeated.

Lance raised an eyebrow at her, "Yes, if you're free, that is."

"I," she began, momentarily pausing to make a decision, "I actually wasn't planning to stay…I have a challenger this morning."

The words rushed out of her mouth and she could tell by the amused look on his face that he knew she was making up an excuse.

Blushing, she turned and ran out of the café, not even realising she had forgotten to get her coffee that morning.

Misty kept running until she reached the gym, closing the door behind her roughly and sliding down it to sit on the floor, her face in her hands, still red, partly from embarrassment and partly from the brief run back to the gym.

Groaning, she muttered something incoherent that sounded a lot like 'what kind of excuse was that?' and Daisy giggled as she walked past.

"Boy trouble?" Daisy teased with a smile on her face.

"Go away," Misty's reply was still muffled as her face was now tucked in to the nook of her elbow, arms resting on her bent knees.

Daisy sighed and sat next to her youngest sister, "Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

There was a pause before Misty sighed, pushing the hair back out of her face and looked at Daisy, "I dunno. I don't even know if I'm having boy trouble, I'm still really confused with what's even happening."

Daisy pulled her sister in for a one armed hug, "Some advice lil sis? When you aren't sure if its boy trouble, it's definitely boy trouble."

Misty hesitated for a minute, "Well, I don't really know. This guy just starts sitting at Cafelot every morning, staring at me and today he was teasing me and all I did was run out of there because I was caught off guard."

Daisy smiled, "ah the old rock up somewhere you go all the time play. This guy's good." She placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "I think it's an easy fix though, you just need to go back there tomorrow, be yourself and it will all work out for the best."

"What kind of advice is that?" Misty asked in disbelief, "He probably won't even be there again tomorrow."

"Do you want him to be?"

Misty thought about this. Did she want him to be? She barely knew him. The only thing she knew about him was that he was absolutely gorgeous and that he could have any girl in the world. Misty had had a few gentleman callers over the years but never someone as high profiled as Lance. That made her nervous and she wondered why he all of a sudden was showing an interest in her.

Sure, she had seen him at a few league meetings here and there but she had never thought he'd had a particular interest in her. If that was even what was happening.

"I'm not sure Daisy. Maybe?"

Daisy squealed in excitement, "Yayyy my baby sister's in love!"

Misty cringed but laughed at her sister's reaction none the less.

Saturday morning looked hopeful. Misty had set her alarm slightly earlier so she could put a little effort into her appearance before going to Cafelot.

She decided to wear her hair down for once, with a little mascara and was wearing light blue skinny jeans and a yellow tank top that showed off her midriff which was a change from her usual workout gear, makeup free and hair in a side ponytail look.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous, so with a quick breath, she walked up to the café door and opened it, scanning the room for that flash of familiar red hair as she entered.

Her face fell in disappointment though when she realised he wasn't there. Not at his table, not at any of the other tables.

Misty sighed before walking up to Rocky at the counter and dejectedly requested her usual.

He chuckled at her, "Wow, you finally caught on that he was here for you huh?"

She glared at him.

"What? I'm just saying it's not every day that _the_ Lance Grayson visits Cerulean City Cafés now is it?"

"Yeah, don't remind me," she replied, grabbing her coffee off him and turning to leave to get started for the day.

Almost a week had passed and Misty was surprised at her reaction to Lance not showing up at Cafelot again. Sure, she had liked boys before and while she wasn't sure if she liked Lance, she was having trouble not moping around about it. She knew it was her fault though, she had blown him off so what else should she expect?

She entered Cafelot dejectedly as she sat down to have her usual Friday breakfast and coffee.

The news was on the café's TV and Misty absentmindedly watched while circling her spoon in her coffee.

There was a segment about the Pokemon Fashion show being held in Celadon City that was just finishing up when she saw him.

There was a video of Lance on the TV, looking very handsome and muttering no comment at the camera's while walking towards and hopping into a town car.

The writing flashing across the bottom of the screen said he was in Johto but would be returning to the Indigo Plateau later today.

Rocky came and sat next to her, his apron folded over his lap.

"You okay?" he asked, seemingly able to tell how dejected she was feeling.

"Yeah, I am. I kind of wish I hadn't been so caught off guard you know? I really would have liked so sit down and talk to him. I mean for all I know he could have been wanting to talk to me about something to do with the league or the gym."

"Trust me Misty, he was not interested in discussing work with you. That much was obvious."

After a few minutes of silence, with Rocky watching her continue to stir her coffee with a spoon – apparently she wasn't going to drink any of it today, his face lit up like a lightbulb.

"I know; you should go and see him at the Indigo Plateau!"

He said it like it was the most logical decision in the world and she laughed thinking it might have been a joke.

"I'm serious," he continued, "I have a cousin who works at a breakfast bar near there, apparently Lance frequents it for breakfast before he goes into the office. You should go and have breakfast with him!"

Now she was just looking at him like he was crazy. She couldn't just pick up and go and stalk him like that. Wouldn't it creep him out? Although to be fair, she mused, he had done that to her and she wasn't creeped out as such, she was more surprised than anything.

"Could I do that?"

"Sure you can, it will probably make his day. I mean really, have you ever heard of Lance Grayson having a girlfriend? I highly doubt this is something he does all the time."

Misty mentally stumbled as the truth of that statement settled in her brain. She _hadn't_ heard of Lance ever dating. She was sure there would have been women in his past but clearly he wasn't very public about it. And with her he seemed to have no problem being public about the fact that he was there to see her.

"Alright, I'm going to do this," she said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

Rocky pulled her in for a hug and muttered something about his little girl growing up.

After pushing him off and rolling her eyes, she left to get ready to leave.

While Lance enjoyed the company of his Elite Four team, there were certain times he wished he could just ignore them.

"All I'm saying Lance is that I think you could really work a side comb-over," Will said, like it was the most normal thing in the world to be discussing Lances 'hair-do'.

Lance rolled his eyes and looked at Karen pointedly who shrugged, a smile on her face. She was enjoying his misery.

She must have decided to help make him miserable, "Or the slicked back look. What do you think Will?"

He immediately started gushing over the possibility of this hair style for their esteemed Champion.

Lance gave a tired sigh as he opened the door to his regular breakfast place, looking for the familiar blue ponytail.

Once he spotted Clair, he realised she was already walking over to meet them, "Hey Lance, it good to see you. Sorry I missed you in Blackthorn the other day."

"It's okay," he dismissed, "I was just hoping you could help me with something."

He trailed off awkwardly and all three members of the conversation raised their eyebrows. Lance _never_ asked for help. Rarely, at least, and considering she wasn't a member of the elite they all were curious what he possibly could have needed help with.

Will interrupted, "Um, Lance, you seem to have an admirer," he gave the orange haired woman a once over and returned his glance to Lance, who had a look of both amusement and confusion, a rare smile tugging at his lips.

The usually composed, professional and very polite champion stood for a moment before watching Misty wave slightly with one of her hands. Then, after another moment he completely ignored Will, Karen and Clair and walked off without and explanation to a smirking Misty, sitting in the back table, arms crossed and two coffee mugs in front of her.

"Here I am, waving at you and you weren't even going to come over and say hello," she said, repeating the line he had used a week previously.

He scoffed playfully before turning serious, "What made you change your mind?"

"The fact that you weren't there on Saturday."

"Who said I wasn't coming back tomorrow?"

That threw her off and she took a moment to recover before replying.

"I thought I messed up a chance to eat with you and figured that you wouldn't have bothered coming back," she said it a bit shyly, while tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"Oh I would have bothered. I actually planned to be there Saturday except I needed to go to Johto to attend to some stuff." He trailed off awkwardly before deciding to sit down with her.

She pushed the second coffee mug closer to him, with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"For me? How did you know how I like my coffee?" He questioned, taking a sip of the cup of coffee that was exactly to his liking, two shots with milk, no sugar.

"Rocky, my friend at the café told me how you like it. There was a short silence before Misty spoke up again "So, can I ask, why did you come past the café for me?"

Lance actually blushed a little and Misty resisted the urge to stare at him dreamily.

"I wanted to see you. I tried to talk to you at the last two League meetings but I just couldn't...find the courage," he admitted sheepishly.

Misty was flattered, and a look of shock and awe flashed onto her face as she stared at the extremely attractive man in front of her.

She bravely reached across the table and put her small hand over his and he smiled at the contact.

"Um, Lance?" Will, Karen and Clair had all walked over to the two, completely confused at what just happened.

"Yeah?" He said, his blank expression returning, though he made no move to release his hand from Misty's.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Will continued.

Lance just stared and was surprised when Clair interrupted, "Misty! It is you, I almost didn't recognise you with your hair down like that".

Misty laughed, "Yeah, I don't usually wear it down to be honest. It's great to see you Clair."

Clair smiled back and then mischievously eyed her cousin, "Is this what you needed my help with in Blackthorn?"

Lance's pause said it all and the three Elites started giggling at the concept of Lance asking for romantic advice.

Misty just smiled crookedly at Lance, squeezing his hand for reassurance.

Lance sighed, "Misty I have to go and get back to some things. How long did you plan on being here?"

"Just for tonight, if you'd like we could maybe, you know, have dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

He got up, with the other three muttering goodbye's to Misty and walking on a head.

As he went to leave, he paused momentarily and turned, walking back to Misty confidently.

In one swift movement he leant down, putting his hands on her jawline, and lowered his lips to his.

The kiss was soft and sweet, Misty had never been kissed like that before.

As he pulled away, he took a brief moment to look into her eyes before saying "just something to think about before tonight".

She stared after him, sure she was blushing at the intensity of this kiss.

After a minute she smiled "yeah, something to think about."


End file.
